Retail establishments have numerous technologies at their disposal for improving the customer experience. U.S. Pat. No. 8,775,260 discloses user interfaces fixed within a store where a user can inquire about the location of a product and receive a response indicating the product's location. U.S. Pat. No. 9,147,212 discloses a mobile phone system in which a user makes a voice call to an automated voice response system that can provide a product location in response to a voice inquiry. U.S. Pat. No. 9,754,176 teaches a method of extracting data from a document such as a sales receipt. Photographs of receipts taken by a smartphone may be used to support customer loyalty programs. Timetrade advertises an ability to schedule appointments through text messaging.
While a retail establishment can expend its resources to build out any one or more of the available services, it involves a tremendous commitment. Reaching customers through various combinations of apps, voice calls, kiosks and texting services may serve to be confusing and counterproductive.